Anon
by ThisSunday
Summary: Captain Zero is ordered to attend an AA meeting by his concerned superior officers. He's a little too distracted to participate, though. Short oneshot, CWZ verse. Very slight trigger warning for alcoholism.


Warrius Zero was not a man to easily admit he had problems. Even with his late wife, it took a while for him to come around to telling her what was wrong. But these were strangers. Military strangers. Zero often found that the higher up on the military foodchain you are, the harder it is to share personal issues with those of lower rank than yourself. Yet here he was, an officer in a room mainly composed of enlisted men. There was no way in hell he was going to say the words, "My name is Warrius Zero, and I am an alcoholic."

It was bad enough that his superiors had ordered him to come here in the first place, but having Unabara there to make sure he actually participated was just cruel. The shorter, older man sat just to his left. He narrowed his eyes at his commanding officer, almost as if to say, "_For God's sake, just suck it up, Zero._" Zero fidgeted in his metal folding chair, eyeing the coffee pot in the corner of the room. He hadn't had a drink in two days and was beginning to get very dizzy. The room spun, and he could only faintly hear the woman on his right finish up her introduction. Another migraine was starting to set in. It was maddening.

As Zero pondered whether or not he could get away with falling asleep for the rest of the meeting, he felt Unabara shake him firmly by the arm. "It's your turn," he muttered.

Zero blinked. "Do I have to stand up now?" Unabara gave him a pointed look and a nod. Sighing, the younger man pushed himself upwards, shaky on his feet. He gave his arm a squeeze, absent mindedly kneading the flesh underneath his yellow captain's jacket. "Um," he began, glancing around the room. He did not meet the eyes of those around him, but he could feel their judgmental stares. "Hello. Uh, I'm Warrius," he managed to get out.

The group responded with the customary greeting, a tired, but genial "Hi, Warrius."

Zero nodded to them in return. The nod was barely noticeable, easily mistaken for more twitching and general uneasiness. He continued. "I've been drinking for…ten years? I think. I've only been sober for a couple of days so far, mostly because my first mate thought it would be a good idea to prepare me for this meeting by confiscating all my liquor." He laughed, albeit nervously, and the others chuckled along with him.

The group sponsor, who sat at the other end of the circle, smiled at him. His eyes were full of pity. Zero tried not to glare back at him and continued with his introduction. "I didn't know the military sponsored this sort of thing until my superiors ordered me to go. They are, _familiar_, with my, uh….." He couldn't say it.

On one side of him, Unabara cocked his head forward. "Zero," he whispered.

Zero clenched his teeth. "They know about my thing with alcohol, I mean. So, here I am." He sat down. The group clapped for him. Zero's hands were clammy with the sweat that plagued him constantly for the past two days. He rubbed them together, put them between his knocked knees, and turned cordially to Unabara.

His older friend stood, glancing carefully about the other group members. "Don't mind me, I'm just here for moral support." They laughed, and he sat down. "See," he mentioned to his captain. "They're not here to judge you."

Zero rolled his eyes, and responded, "Doesn't mean they won't, anyway." Unabara narrowed his eyes, and returned his focus to the current speaker, the man on his other side.

Zero sighed. He checked the clock, noting the 55 minutes left in the meeting. Sighing again, he opened the book that was given to him as he walked into the room. _Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions_. Zero thought it sounded more like a holiday film than a self-help sort of book. He said so to Unabara under his breath, and was punched for his trouble, with an added "Shh!" for good measure. The auburn haired captain rubbed his shoulder. His head was really starting to pound, now. He waited for the introductions to finish, migraine throbbing in tandem with the second hand on the wall clock. 50 minutes left.

"Is it alright if I just step out for a minute?" he asked. The sponsor nodded. Zero ambled out of the room, the group watching him leave. On every other face or so was a slight smile. He closed the door behind him, trying very hard not to slam it. Gripping his head in both hands, he leaned against the wall, sliding down it until he was sitting on the floor.

"This is stupid," he whispered. Feeling the continued rhythmic pounding, he wished he had had enough foresight to bring along some aspirin. Slowly but surely, the grasping hands of sleep enveloped him. It was a welcome release from the unceasing noise in his head.

Zero was slapped awake by Unabara almost an hour later. His reply was to yell in frustration, "Would you quit that?! I'm taking enough abuse from you today as it is!"

Unabara shrugged. "You sleep like a rock, Captain. I had no other choice."

"Fine, whatever. Is it over?"

"Yeah. You slept through the whole damn thing."

"Great! Let's go, Unabara." He started to leave.

"There was some interesting conversation in there, Captain, perhaps you might have benefitted from it."

Zero stopped, looking back over his bruised shoulder. "Hey, Unabara."

His friend stared after him. "Yeah?"

"Do you really want me to quit?"

Unabara looked at his feet. He sighed, his words more breathed out than said. "It wouldn't hurt. You could at least cut back, you know?"

The edges of Zero's mouth curved into a soft smile. "I know," he said. The captain of the Karyu looked his old friend in the eye. The look was resigned, and was met by Unabara. "I know," Zero said again. "I'll really try this time, okay?"

Unabara nodded, walking on past him, saying, "Let's get you back to the ship, Zero." Zero likewise nodded, and followed after. He intended to keep his promise.


End file.
